


Sanguine

by TheRantDragon



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Post Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26886541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRantDragon/pseuds/TheRantDragon
Summary: A recently returned Wally West fixes pancakes for Lian, and reflects on his past and his future.
Relationships: Artemis Crock/Wally West
Comments: 4
Kudos: 52





	Sanguine

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, hello! I have crawled out of the woodwork to bring you this. Based on a prompt by Cripple X, given to me probably around a year ago, and which has sat about half-finished until I finally decided it deserved to be completed.
> 
> Thanks to Cripple X also for betaing this.

Wally inhaled deeply as the delicious aroma of blueberry pancakes wafted around the kitchen. He had missed the smell, but more importantly he had missed the _taste_ , and as he expertly flipped the last pancake to brown its other side, he felt his mouth start to water. In sync with his salivation, he heard his stomach rumble its usual ceaseless lament for food, and gently patted his abdomen in consolation.

“There, there, stomach, breakfast is almost done!” Wally said out loud, and grinned to himself when his antics elicited a happy giggle. He twisted away from the stove top to see little Lian gazing at him with amusement, her tiny fork in hand. Wally felt his heart melt just a bit; he had always thought it sounded a bit corny, but there really was just something truly pure about the unadulterated laughter of a child. He hadn’t fully realized that until he’d met his girlfriend’s niece and seen her baby face scrunching up in laughter.

Hey, at least _someone_ appreciated his humor.

“Wally wants pancakes!” Lian stated rather loudly in her happiness, pointing at his stomach. Wally made an exaggerated shushing sound at her, holding a finger up to his lips in an effort to remind her that her aunt Artemis was still sleeping elsewhere in the house. It was surprisingly effective, if only because the toddler got a kick out of mimicking the motion back at him with an even louder shushing sound. He sighed and figured it was a better alternative.

Lian went back to humming and kicking her feet while she waited for him to finish breakfast. Wally flipped the last of the pancakes out of the frying pan and onto a rather outrageous stack for one adult and one toddler, satisfied by the dangerously leaning tower he had created. Each pastry was soft, fluffy, and perfect if he did say so himself. If he weren’t so happy to have them in his stomach, he might have shed a tear at the thought of devouring such beautiful work.

 _‘I could be a chef’,_ Wally thought as he poured a glass of orange juice for himself, and one of milk for Lian. _‘But then I would have to make food and not eat it, and that actually sounds like the worst job ever, nevermind.’_

Setting both beverages on the kitchen table, Wally picked up the plate of pancakes and carried them over carefully, the sight of which caused yet more cute laughter from Lian. He pretended to nearly lose his balance at the last second, letting out a low yelp and dropping the plate rather heavily on the surface. And okay, so maybe it was totally his own fault that she kept bursting into fits of too loud amusement, but he just couldn’t help it, she was adorable.

“How many pancakes do you want, Lian?” Wally asked her, sliding her small plate toward him so that he could distribute them.

The toddler grinned, bringing her hands up and holding them almost as far apart as her tiny arms would allow. “This many!”

Wally winced, silently glad that Will was already out of the house. He was one-hundred percent positive that had the man been present, he would have been shooting daggers at him for being a bad influence on his daughter’s eating habits. While Wally’s insatiable appetite had been little more than a point of extreme amusement for Lian at first, it had quickly become clear that he was more of a bad impression on her than anything else.

“Really? That many?” he asked in mock surprise. She nodded, her pigtails bouncing, and Wally turned his face wistfully to the massive stack of pancakes, really hamming it up with how much disappointment leaked into his voice. “I just don’t know if that will leave me enough! Uncle Wally has to eat an _awful_ lot… tell you what, how about I give you two of these big girl pancakes on the bottom, and then if you _really_ want more I’ll make you some more, okay?”

The fact that he was giving her two of the much larger pancakes that he’d made for himself seemed to be more than enough to appease her. She nodded delightedly and hummed as he placed them on her plate, dumped a generous amount of syrup-- probably too much syrup--and then slid them over. She giggled happily and dug in, and Wally knew that she would probably only get through one, but that was okay.

In a show of restraint of which he would not have been capable before the near Reach apocalypse, Wally ignored his breakfast in favor of leaning back in his chair to take in the moment. This whole setting was new and yet somehow familiar in a way that tugged at him unexpectedly, evoking a bittersweet feeling in the pit of his stomach despite his efforts to enjoy it all. Lian was oblivious to the turmoil building inside him, humming and smacking her lips in delight of the sugary bliss on her taste buds. Wally offered her a forced smile, then turned his attention to his own plate, barely registering the food he had been so eager to eat seconds before.

It wasn’t that Wally didn’t appreciate the space that had been given to him. Will had been nothing but accommodating, more than happy to let one of his oldest friends stop off there while trying to get back on his feet. It was just that this place had never felt like _home_ to Wally. He was content to be where Artemis was, but even being by her side had not been able to curb his feeling of being out of place. It belonged to Will and Artemis and Lian, not _him_.

Sitting there, sharing breakfast with Lian in a quiet kitchen filled with the smell of pancakes, while his girlfriend snoozed away in their bedroom, Wally could feel the change. It felt _awful_. A home that was too familiar, and not at all familiar enough. Home, but unequivocally _not_ home. The atmosphere filled him with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia for by-gone mornings in Palo Alto, so intense it felt like a physical blow.

With clarity he could remember waking up most mornings, alone with rumpled sheets in place of his girlfriend’s lithe form resting against him. She was almost always up before him, pulling away from his warmth to shower or get in some early work on an upcoming assignment. He would take solace in knowing the weekend would be theirs, that they would sleep in and wake up together, yet he still always took the time to pout at the empty space before dragging himself from bed.

He could remember how he would pad into the kitchen, the smell of rich black coffee permeating the air; Artemis had a thing for it. He could practically see her sitting at their little kitchen table, with her coffee cup steaming beside her elbow as she gazed down at a textbook, messy blonde hair bleeding over her shoulder. Sometimes she would be so concentrated that a wrinkle would be between her brows and she would not acknowledge his presence until he spoke first.

While her studious behavior was cute enough to recall on its own, Wally felt his chest aching for the specific memories of the way she would look at him. A soft smile, a murmured greeting of “Morning, babe”, that was still a bit rough with sleep. He would return the gesture, and punctuate it with a kiss.

He would make breakfast for them, and they would talk. About university, about the Team, about the weather, about that party some of their friends were begging them to go to...

He missed it. So _much_.

Wally felt like he was being crushed under the weight of the memories. His chest hurt with the swell of melancholy within it. It took him a moment to come back to reality and realize that he was breathing just a little erratically, that he had been staring at his pancakes with something like pain twisted into his features.

_'Come on, West, get it together. Don’t scare Lian. Just… take a few breaths, remember what Dinah said…'_

Memories were good. Letting those memories take control of everything inside of him was _not_ good. He was working on it.

Wally had taken several slow, steadying breaths when the dull sound of claws on hardwood caught his attention. Brucely was more than a welcome distraction, and he chuckled with a surge of affection for the pitbull as he trotted up with tail a-wag.

“Hey boy,” Wally greeted the dog, petting him on the head and feeling slightly calmer for it. Brucely laid his head on the speedster’s lap and let out a soft woof. “Shhh, let me guess, you want to be fed, too?” Another bark in response had Wally jumping up quickly to pour food into the dog’s dish while Lian giggled and asserted just how happy she was that Brucely had finally decided to come join. Much to Wally’s dismay, the toddler had started feeding him little bits of pancake in the space of time it took him to set the bowl on the linoleum.

“Brucely likes pancakes, too!”

Wally was fairly certain that Brucely liked pretty much everything, but he decided against relaying that information to his niece. He was already in enough trouble with Will for inadvertently steering Lian’s appetite toward the food monster side, the last thing he needed was a cascading effect that led to a severely overweight dog.

“Let’s maybe _not_ feed Brucely your big girl pancakes,” Wally suggested, using a wet wipe on her hand to get the syrup and dog saliva off her fingers. “It’s important that he eats his own food so he can, you know, keep being healthy and play a lot. Kinda like you.” He punctuated the statement with a light poke to her nose, which elicited a giggle and a smile. He felt himself melt a little, and god help Wally, it was a good thing that he didn’t have any kids of his own, because he was certain he would be the absolute _worst_ at not folding over everything with them.

The mere thought dazed him a little as he discarded the wipe and sat back down to finally enjoy his breakfast. If he had kids of his own… that was an option, a possibility that had not existed within his wildest dreams not more than a month ago. He and Artemis had talked about them before… and well, okay, maybe he didn’t need to get ahead of himself, a lot of things had changed since then and he couldn’t just assume she’d still want them. However, the fact remained that he could think about it now, _realistically_ , as an actual prospect of his near future. Something tangible and attainable. Something real.

Wally felt a warmth bloom in his stomach and chest, and felt his heart rate accelerate. It was something he had gotten used to since his return. The effect of thinking about his future with any sort of permanence left him feeling charged, powerful in a way that he was too embarrassed to try and explain, even to Black Canary. Artemis knew, though. He didn’t want to keep a single thing from her--the fact that years of existing while not really _living_ had left him feeling like the barest hint of control in his life was too much.

He had been a little ashamed at first, of how exuberant he’d get over something as trivial as choosing to spend the entire day in bed with Artemis. It wasn’t the act itself that got to him--though, god, he’d missed _everything_ about Artemis--so much as the fact that he realized, more and more everyday, that he didn’t have to _run_ anymore. He wasn’t being forced to keep running, to keep moving, in some futile quest to get somewhere that he could never fathom. He had finally stopped and he could take his time, make his own choices, and just… _be_.

The serenity of the knowledge settled over Wally like a comforting blanket. He rubbed at his eyes and cleared his throat roughly, setting down the fork on an empty plate containing only crumbs and the faintest traces of syrup. A quick glance across the table had him laughing softly in spite of himself, as Lian had not-so-secretly started feeding Brucely the remainder of the big girl pancake that had indeed proven to be a bit _too_ big.

Wally had just about convinced himself to stand up and stop Lian when the soft sound of bare feet on hardwood reached his ears. His heart leaped into his throat before he even had the chance to lay eyes on her. He twisted around in his chair with a speed that once upon a time might have had Dick laughing uproariously at him. But Dick wasn’t here, and Wally hardly cared about anything but the sight of the beautiful, sleepy blonde that was making her way up the hallway with a lethargic gait.

 _'God, I missed her…'_ Wally thought to himself almost desperately, watching her shuffle forward, attempting to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She had a glorious case of bed head, and a purpling bruise was peeking out at her collarbone from her askew pajama shirt. When her deep gray eyes finally shifted over to his frame, it was like the damn sun was coming up; he watched her come awake as she walked up to him, a pretty smile blossoming on her face and digging the slightest of dimples into her cheeks.

Wally felt the fast patterning of his heart stutter at the sight.

“Hey,” Artemis said. Her voice was huskier than usual with sleep, and she placed her hands on the back of his chair and leaned in for a kiss. Her blonde locks tickled his face and his neck, but he smiled into their tender morning greeting and felt sad when she pulled away. “Good morning.”

“‘Mornin’, babe,” he returned, hating that his voice sounded just the slightest bit breathless; either Artemis didn’t notice, or didn’t care enough to comment.

“How long have you been up?”

“A while. Are you okay?” When she had leaned forward to kiss him, he had not missed the way her shirt had moved, fully displaying the first purpling bruise on her collarbone and revealing the top of a second one not far below it. He hadn’t forgotten the night they enjoyed last night, probably the most intense one barring their first time after his return. It was the reason for her late start this morning, and while he was immensely proud of himself, he felt the need to make sure he hadn’t pushed her too far.

“Never been better,” Artemis replied easily, offering him a secret smile, and he knew she meant for far more than just last night. She let her hand drag along the length of his shoulder, squeezing lightly before releasing to walk over and greet Lian. “And good morning to you, baby girl,” she cooed, giving the young girl a kiss on the cheek.

“Morning, Auntie Mouse!”

Wally watched the scene with warmth blooming in his belly, a stupid grin plastered to his face. By far one of the best discoveries that he had made upon his return, was that of Artemis’s special relationship with her niece. It was completely precious and real and it had left him feeling a deep-rooted sense of regret at having not been around to watch such a bond grow. It had also come with a much darker thought, one where he wondered if the same sort of deep familial connection could have possibly formed if circumstances had not left Artemis living with Will. What was and what if scenarios had the most potential to drive Wally over the brink, and it was only through his therapy sessions with Black Canary that he had been able to push forward at all.

Wally was here in the now, and he would be for the foreseeable future. That’s what mattered.

Clearing his throat, Wally stood with a scrape of his chair, stretching his arms high above his head. “You want pancakes, babe? I kind of want some more, anyway.”

“Sure, I’ll take a couple,” Artemis said, padding over to the coffee maker. Wally had never quite taken to coffee the way Artemis had--he was more into energy drinks when he needed a boost--but he had to admit there was a sort of comfort in hearing the sound of the machine running. The pot would slowly fill up with the black liquid his girlfriend loved so much, and the smell of coffee grounds would race up his nostrils and somehow remind him of everything he had. It was a feeling he’d had before the Speed Force, and it was a feeling that held tenfold the sentiment now.

By the time Artemis finished setting up her coffee to brew, Wally was already pouring a fresh batch of pancake batter into the frying pan. He was a little focused on his work, so it came as a surprise when she moved in behind him without a sound. He felt her thread her arms under his own, her palms coming up to rest flatly on his chest as she laid her head on his back. She pulled herself close against him, letting out a soft sigh of contentment, and Wally used one hand to briefly lift hers off of his chest to kiss the tips of her fingers. He felt rather than heard her quiet laugh buzz along his skin before her warm lips pressed into his back.

And Wally really felt fine. The gaps in the window slats cast warm rays along his front, and Artemis shielded him from the cold at his back. He could feel her steady breaths ghost along his skin, smell the coffee brewing, and hear the tap of claws and happy exclamations from Lian as Brucely joined them. He was certain that he had never felt more content in his life than he did in that moment.


End file.
